Inside My Arms
by bookish-type-7
Summary: Camp Half-Blood wouldn't be itself without a few incredibly cliche games- including spin the bottle, of course. What will Annabeth do when the bottle lands on an idiot with a few sea-controlling powers? Slightly AU Percabeth one-shot.


Annabeth thought it was ridiculously ironic that Camp Half-Blood was a place where nothing was normal- except for the hormone ridden teenagers.

She contemplated this as Silena giggled loudly from beside her, illuminated by the huge bonfire glowing behind them, warming them on the December night, reaching out in the middle to spin.

The bottle. Yeah, that's right.

Honestly, she wasn't actually sure why she'd agreed in the first place (actually, Michael Yew had threatened to kiss her without the bottle- and she was hoping that the bottle would have other plans for her. At least it was by _chance_ now, not Michael Yew's seriously screwed up mind), but she was certainly regretting it when a nervous pang sounded in her stomach every time the bottle whizzed its nozzle past her.

But fortunately, it hadn't hit her yet, but she'd had to watch Clarisse and Travis, Travis and Silena, and Silena and-

Oh. Well.

The top of the bottle spun had stopped at her.

She looked up and blinked. She'd have to kiss Silena. That wasn't too bad. She'd escaped Michael and Connor and Travis and Chris and Beckendorf and Percy… so far. Better it was Silena than any son of Apollo with bad breath.

"It doesn't have to be weird," Silena said, grinning and crawling across the circle towards her. "Hey, I've never kissed a girl before. You should be honored."

Annabeth laughed and shrugged. Who's to say she wasn't lesbian? _Guess this'll be the revealing moment_, she thought as Silena leaned in.

Their lips met, and although it wasn't that bad, it wasn't hot or anything. Just lips, she supposed. Maybe this was how it was with boys too. Whatever.

Silena withdrew and shrugged. "No offense, Annabeth, but I'll be sticking to Beckendorf for the time being," she said, smiling and winking at him from the other side of the circle.

Her turn. She crawled into the middle of the circle and spun.

Oh _shit_. Oh shit oh shit oh shit.

Just her luck.

The neck of the bottle was pointed straight at _Percy__**.**_

A collective gasp emitted from the group, and her face turned red. She'd have to kiss Seaweed Brain, and, as revolting as that was, his cheeks were equally as pink as hers. She could hear the giggles from Silena and she _knew_ there were going to be interrogations later.

"Come on Annabeth, he's not a monster," Katie said, trying not to laugh.

Annabeth gave a small _hmph_ and turned to face Percy, whose face was paralyzed in fear. Annabeth knew he was mortified. "Loosen up, Seaweed Brain. One kiss is all you get," she said, smirking, and as the words slipped out of her mouth, she immediately snapped her mouth shut, raising her eyebrows, surprised at herself. Was she _flirting_? With _Percy_?

Gross. All brought on by a stupid teenage game. Ugh.

_Let's get this over with_, she thought, and she reached out and pushed his head towards her to meet his lips with hers with a sharp move. And when they met, her eyes closed.

_This is not as bad as it should have been_, she thought wildly, as his lips moved against hers. It was weird, kissing, the whole lips going and moving and breathing together thing, and although it wasn't as life-changing as she'd imagined, it was a hell of a lot better than not kissing anybody.

His hand snaked up under her chin, and his fingertips were like fire in the cold wind. Her fingers, still on the back of his neck, slid into his hair. _Mmmm_. She could feel his breath and _ah_, he was warm and smelled like the bonfire behind them and sea salt-

And it dawned on her there were cat-calls and giggles around her. She would've groaned if she wasn't sucking face with Percy.

Sucking face.

With _Percy_.

_Shit._

She pulled away as quickly as she had leaned in, and Percy's eyes flew wide open, and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Annabeth, where are you-"

The group had quickly become silent, gone were the wolf whistles, and as she stared around the circle in panic, her heart rate pounded louder. "I have to…" She shook her head, her voice shaky and anxious. "I have to go-."

She got up and ran towards her cabin, the only place she could think of to be _alone_, and as she sprinted, she heard whispers of the campers behind her and the sound of the bonfire crackling in the freezing winter night. She blinked back tears she hadn't even known were coming (or even why). Annabeth's head was a blur.

She finally reached her cabin and she dashed in, thankful for the cozy warmness of the place, stumbling into her bed and curling up in her blankets, slipping off her boots first, her breathing hard and fast. She sniffed, her breathing shaking, and her heart was still racing twenty miles an hour. Annabeth let a few tears slip down her cheeks as she stared at the ceiling still in shock.

Which brought her to the point. Why exactly was she crying? Sure, half the counselors in the camp had seen her kissing Percy (ugh, what had she been thinking?!) and though the thought of that had made her cringe, she had almost completely forgot about kissing Silena- which didn't phase her at all. What was it about Percy that left her such a wreck?

She coughed, throat still rasping from the cold outside and tears still dripping from her face, shivering even under the ten blankets on her bunk. Annabeth heard the distinct sound of the cabin door creaking open and shut, and footsteps echoed through the cabin. She stifled her breathing, thinking that if it was Percy, she did _not_ want to talk to him. She peeked out from over her bunk's railing, ready to hide at a moment's notice.

But the feet walking through the cabin were adorned with ballet flats despite the chill, and Silena's timid voice called up. "Annabeth? Are you okay?" Her face was crinkled with worry.

Annabeth sat up in her bunk. "Here," she sniffed, wiping away her tears with the backside of her hand.

"Can I come up?" Silena asked. When Annabeth nodded silently, she slipped her flats off and climbed up to the bed. Silena slipped under a blanket, studying Annabeth's face. "Okay, I know you don't want to talk about it, but-."

Annabeth sighed, another tear slipping down her cheek. "Of course I don't want to talk about it. I don't even know what I'm feeling and _why_ I freaked out like that. And now everyone's going to think I like him when I obviously never did."

Silena gave her a sympathetic look as Annabeth burst into tears again, reaching over and embracing her. "It's okay, dear, one kiss and one boy is not the end of the world," she said, rubbing her hand in circles over her back.

Annabeth sniffed into her shoulder. "I can't even think about liking him… He's an idiot and dumb and then he can turn around and be the most kind and caring and loving person in the world…" She stopped, shaking her head, irritated at herself. "But I don't. I don't like him, not that way. And I _know_ he doesn't care about me, like… _like_ like."

She shook her head, trying to rid her mind of the practices where she couldn't keep her eyes off him, the ridiculous jokes she always laughed at, the times when they got into a fight and they got so close they were almost nose to nose and she couldn't keep her eyes off his lips-

But they were just moments, she convinced herself. Nothing big, and they'd had to have a bottle determine their first damn kiss. She sighed, trying to get control of her breathing. Just moments.

"Alright, Annabeth. We just need to figure out what_ you_ feel, because we both know that if you're figuring this out, we're figuring this out tonight." Silena unwrapped herself from Annabeth, reaching into her pocket and drawing out a tissue, which Annabeth thankfully accepted. "I know there's a part of you in there-" she gestured around Annabeth's general heart area. "That has the potential to really like Percy. Like, we're talking long term here."

At Annabeth's panicked look, she went on hastily, avoiding interruption. "But look, you guys have been together through thick and thin and I can tell you're still not done. But you've stayed friends, and become better from it even then. You two watch each others' backs in battles, you two know exactly what will make each other mad and what will fix it, and I have it on _brilliant_ authority he's thought about it himself. You two together, I mean," Silena whispered, winking.

Annabeth gasped. "Beckendorf?"

Silena giggled and winked again. "Shh, he'd kill me! But seriously, you two are best friends and you obviously have chemistry, if those heated arguments are anything to gather from." She smirked and wiggled her perfectly groomed eyebrows.

"_Heated_ _arguments_, my ass-"

"You know I'm right," Silena mocked. "And we both know that if you're going to have a crush on Percy Jackson-"

Annabeth gasped. "Who said I had a _crush_-"

Silena just grinned. "-you're going to have to spell it out for that boy, because we and all the damned gods above know he is never going to figure it out on his own."

"A crush. On Percy Jackson. Oh my gods," Annabeth said, trying to wrap her mind around the fact she'd been crying over him not ten minutes earlier.

"Honey, we've had this figured out for a long time, you've just needed to catch up," Silena smiled, sliding from underneath the blankets over to the bunk ladder and climbing down. "And as I'm your completely supportive best friend, you're going to be scared shitless tomorrow morning. So in your best interests, I'd suggest you go. Now. Tell him."

Annabeth's eyes opened, shocked. "Tell him?! I just figured out I actually… _like_ him, much less tell him! Oh my gods, I can't do this."

Silena laughed, throwing Annabeth's boots up to the bunk where Annabeth was curled up, her heart beating fast and breathing quickening. "Come on, Annabeth, we both know you're not going to do this unless it's tonight."

What the hell, Annabeth thought, and though this was the most illogical thing she'd ever done in her life (feelings? Admit feelings?!), she was going to fucking do it. She knew there was no way she was going to chicken herself out of it. She, Annabeth Chase, was going to tell Percy Jackson, the idiot of her life, that she liked him. And as scary as that was, she needed to get this out.

She took a deep breath. "Okay."

Silena cheered. "Yes! Now, I'm not going to take you to his cabin, you're going to be the brave bitch-ass motherfucker you are and walk there alone. They ended the game when you left, so my best bet is he's in his warm cabin, alright?" She smiled at Annabeth, who was zipping up her boots over her jeans with a false sense of confidence.

Annabeth wrapped one of her snuggly blankets around herself, thinking that if she was going into this, she was going in warm, and she climbed down the ladder, jumping off a rung onto the floor. "Okay. I can do this."

Silena grinned. "Yup. I'm here for when you get back. If you get back tonight," she winked, laughing. Annabeth's eyes grew even wider when she realized what Silena was talking about, and before she could protest, Silena pushed her out of the door, where the cold wind bit into her cheeks as she pulled her blanket around her further, shivering. Her teeth chattered as the walk across the courtyard to cabin two suddenly seemed like a lifelong trek through the Arctic. Her boots trudged along the dead grass and hard dirt as she was forced to go over her life's current decisions, namely going through this damn cold for a boy.

Which, suddenly, she realized what she was doing. The boy in question was probably curled up in his own blanket, his hair not flying in the bitter wind, eyes not watering from the cold, and was about to get the surprise of his life. Annabeth was confessing her feelings for him, which was insane in itself, and as butterflies flew around her stomach, she started (very unsurprisingly) panicking. He didn't like her, she knew that, no matter how much she had hoped to the contrary (which was very confusing to her, because no more than three hours ago she would've been mortified if he did). But when she declared her sudden and overwhelming love for him then, how would he react? Her crush would be very much unrevealed, and what would he think?

So because of the imminent fact that he did not like her, what would he do? Would he push her away and she'd be forced to speak with him rarely? Would he freak out and not want to even be her friend anymore? Annabeth shivered. This could ruin their friendship, and Annabeth decided that, though Silena would probably murder her, she was going to go back. She couldn't tell Percy, the boy couldn't handle matching his socks, much less handling a girl madly in love with him. It would ruin everything they'd built so far, and no matter how big her crush was on him, that was something she wasn't willing to do.

Annabeth looked up from the ground where she'd been contemplating her near decision, and as she looked up, she realized she'd arrived at her destination- of course, the one where she had been wanting to be only two minutes ago. As her head notched up to look at the door, however, her head hit the door. _Hard_. A _clonk_ echoed around the courtyard. "_Fuck_."

Cursing her idiotic, clumsy self, she clutched her head, which throbbed painfully, and turned to go back to her cabin. But, as fate would have it, Percy had apparently heard the knock at his door, and cabin two's door swung open to reveal an extremely confused and tired-looking Percy, whose face twisted into even more confusion when he realized who had knocked. "Annabeth? What are you doing here?" he asked, running a hand through his bedhead, green eyes wide and looking _very _cute, Annabeth involuntarily thought. "Oh gods, your lips are blue. Come on, you can't stay out here," he said, quickly dashing out of his cabin to help her in, yelping as his feet touched the freezing ground.

"No… Percy, no…" she half-heartedly protested as he led her into his cabin, the warm air hitting her like a brick as she let out a breath immediately. "I'm s-sorry, d-did I wake you up?" she asked, teeth chattering as she tried to tug her now freezing blanket tighter around her as an attempt to warm up. He shook his head.

"It doesn't matter…" he said, trailing off distractedly, reaching onto his bunk and grabbing his blanket from his bed. He walked over to where Annabeth was still shivering in the middle of the room and carefully took her blanket off and wrapped his own around her shoulders. She was enveloped immediately in the smell of seasalt and teenage boy (not as bad as one might imagine), and as she breathed in, his eyes studied hers. "Here. Do you want to sit in one of the bunks? They're much, um, comfier than the floor." Percy tried for a smile.

Annabeth nodded, substantially warmer. "Sure, I guess. Sorry for the trouble," she said, feeling ridiculous in the cabin, slipping off her boots, drawing back the covers and climbing into a bunk. Percy followed her and sat at the end of the bed, knees to chest, his arms wrapped around his sweatpants-covered legs like a child. It was truly ridiculous how cute he was. Annabeth could tell he was sleepy, too, and his messy hair and slow blinks just added to the adorable. _Ugh_. She thought she wasn't going to do this…

"Hey, Annabeth?" he asked timidly, his eyebrows frowning. "Are you okay? You seemed pretty upset earlier and I really don't know what… what I did?"

She sighed, knowing that this was bound to come up sooner or later. "Well…"

He interrupted her quickly. "I'm sorry for kissing you, if that's it, because that was really stupid. And I'm sorry. It probably wasn't okay with you and we really shouldn't have done that without asking each other first. We've never had this kind of… uhm, weirdness between us and I really don't want to lose you over something as… as stupid as a kiss." He stumbled over '_stupid_', averting his eyes to the bed and rolling his fingers over a seashell on the sheets. Then he looked up and his eyes were staring into hers, and they really were beautiful, his eyes, the sea green and blue, framed by those dark lashes she had always been jealous of. Boys and their perfect eyelashes. "You're seriously my best friend and it would be completely… sucky if we didn't talk to each other. Like… really, really sucky."

Percy Jackson, the poet. She laughed. "Sucky, Seaweed Brain?"

He blushed. "Never said the nickname didn't fit. So you're okay?"

Annabeth smiled, her shivers dying away. She'd almost forgotten how much she liked him- and being here, next to him, with him being so honest and kind and loving it almost hurt, she almost laughed. _Of course_ she was going to tell him. "Yeah. I just have a question for you."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah?"

"This is going to sound weird."

"Weird as in… Blue food weird or there are Greek gods living in America weird? Because we've kind of seen a lot," he said, laughing.

"Not quite sure," she answered.

"Well, okay. Fire away, then," he said, confusion obvious on his features.

She sighed. "Did you like it? You know, when we kissed?"

"Uhm…" He blushed again, but deeper, and his face was a tomato red when she asked again.

"Percy? You can be honest, okay? Good or bad?"

"Well… Obviously yeah, but were you okay with it? C-cause I don't want you to be uncomfortable..." he stammered, his hands fumbling with the little seashell he'd been messing with.

She laughed. "You liked it?"

He nodded, shrugging shyly. _Percy Jackson, shy? Now there was something. _"It was… it was actually kind of amazing. I'm sorry, Annabeth, I know you-"

She stopped him mid-sentence, climbing across the bed and pressing her lips softly to his. She pulled away, studying his face, a mixture of confusion, glee, and shock.

"Is this okay?" she asked, grinning.

His eyes stared at her in wonder. "You… you like… me?"

She grinned and nodded. "Seaweed Brain, I really, really like you and I'm honestly sorry it's taken me since I met you to figure it out."

He grinned. "Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"I really, really like you too."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Can we continue this whole thing?" Annabeth asked, gesturing to the space between them. Percy reached his hands around her waist and straightening out his legs so he could pull her closer. She settled into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist and drawing her face closer towards his. She nudged her nose against his. "Seaweed Brain?"

"Annabeth?" he answered, his breath warm against her lips.

"I'm glad you like me."

"Ditto."

She laughed and kissed him, her hands threading through his hair and pressing into him as his hands carefully removed her blanket from around her shoulders. Finally warm, his fingers traced her hips through her hoodie, sending goosebumps down her skin.

They kissed for what seemed like hours while their hands explored and skin pressed against skin. Percy's lips finally pulled away from hers only to make their way along her jaw line and down her neck, sucking against the soft skin by her collarbone. She made a mental note to ask Silena to borrow a scarf the next time she saw her.

She was left gasping, and Annabeth brought his lips up again to hers, and after a few open-mouthed kisses that left them both breathless, she whispered, "We need to sleep. At least a couple hours. We both know I can't function without it."

Percy groaned. "I'll never forget the great Battle of Pancakes."

"Hey!" she protested, shoving him to the edge of the bed. "You took one of my damn pancakes. You can't judge me before coffee and after a quest, alright?"

Percy smiled and rolled back beside her, pecking her cheek. "Nothing will change, right? In the morning?"

She laughed. "It's but a few hours away, Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, climbing over to draw the covers back on the bed, asking, "Is this okay? We'd probably be warmer together, and-"

She nodded, realizing how tired she was as she curled under the blankets next to Percy, facing him and listening to his breathing as it slowed. He snapped and the lights went out. "Seriously, Percy? Snap on, snap off?"

A tired grumble came from beside her. "Don't judge me."

She laughed. "Goodnight, Percy."

"Goodnight, Annabeth."

* * *

She wasn't quite sure how they woke up tangled up in each other, but she certainly wasn't complaining until a sharp knock sounded at the door.

"Chiron for room inspection, good morning and open up!"

A groan sounded behind her. "Shit."

* * *

thanks for reading and sticking around, guys! this took me forever but it was suprisingly fun to write. i honestly had no idea where the story was going until i was like, "oh shit now they're making out... oh well."

anyways, big thanks (as always) to combustspontaneously for looking this over and being a constant inspiration, i'd probably never write without her.

happy thanksgiving to all you americans and i'm thankful for you guys because you keep pushing me to write and get better. thanks again for reading! :)


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